I respect the President, says Moses Kuria as he apologises
Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria who on January 4, 2019 apologised to President Uhuru Kenyatta over his new year's eve remarks that the central Kenya region has been neglected by the Jubilee administration. Mr Kuria said his sentiments were misconstrued and were not meant to show disrespect to the head of State. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The MP spoke on December 31 at Thika Stadium in the presence of Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu.
- His remarks attracted a huge backlash from the region's leaders.
- Mr Kuria apologised on Friday and urged leaders to stop using it to create conflict between him and President Kenyatta.
Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has apologised to President Uhuru Kenyatta over his new year's eve remarks that the central Kenya region has been neglected by the Jubilee administration in terms of development despite residents coming out to vote in large numbers in the 2017 General Elections.
Speaking to revellers at Thika Stadium on December 31, 2018, Mr Kuria said, “Mimi nataka kusema hivi, tukifungua mwaka wa 2019 nyinyi mfikirie sana. Sisi mambo yetu ni kupiga kura, baada ya kupiga kura maendeleo tunapatiana kwingine. Hiyo ujinga tuwache. (I want to say this, as we come to the end of 2019, I want you to think a seriously about your habit of voting in large numbers only to end up missing out on development projects.”)
The MP spoke in the presence of Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu who also attended the event.
BACKLASH
His remarks attracted a huge backlash from the region's leaders, particularly Kiambu Woman Representative Gathoni Wamuchomba and a group elders from Gatundu South who called on Mr Kuria to apologise to the President “for disrespecting him”.
Kikuyu elders from Gatundu South during a press briefing on January 4, 2019. They distanced themselves from MP Moses Kuria's remarks that central region has been neglected in terms of development. PHOTO | MARY WAMBUI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
"We wish to categorically state that those reckless and irresponsible utterances by our MP were purely his personal opinion and not the opinion of the elders of Gatundu South Constituency," said Martin Muhoho Kuria, the secretary of Gatundu South Council of Elders.
WRONG INTERPRETATION
But speaking Friday to journalists in Kimunyu, Gatundu South a few hours after the elders gave their statement, Mr Kuria apologised to “anyone including the President, who had received the wrong interpretation of the message” and urged leaders to stop using it to create conflict between him and President Kenyatta.
"I refuse to be side-tracked by those people who want to mislead people by saying that I have disrespected the President. I have never disrespected the head of State. If any word that I might have uttered could have been misconstrued in any bad way, I offer my profuse apologies to the head of State and to anyone else [who is aggrieved]," said Mr Kuria.
